Shadow Cloud
The Shadow Cloud is an interstellar dust and gas cloud located within Course Sector.
- It is an astrographic feature and a nebula.
Details / Specifications
The Shadow Cloud is an irregularly shaped giant molecular cloud. It has general dimensions of 12 parsces coreward-rimward, 7 parsecs spinward-trailing, and covers an area of approximately 39 parsecs. The density and size of the cloud permits the formation of molecules such as molecular hydrogen (H2), carbon monoxide (CO) and ammonia (NH4). The Cloud's mean density is around 100,000 particles per cm³. It has an interior structure consisting of a complex pattern of filaments, sheets, bubbles, and irregular clumps.
The densest parts of the Cloud, with concentrations of particles in excess of a million per cm³, are called molecular cores. The quantities of dust within the cores are sufficient to block light from background stars so that they appear in silhouette as dark nebulae. Each core generally measures a few thousand AU in diameter.
The Shadow Cloud lies within the trailing part of the Moat Rifts.
History
The Shadow Cloud has been known of for millennia, a vague dark smudge in nighttime skies lying in the general direction of Terra.
The exact dimensions and structure of the Shadow Cloud were confirmed by the University of Tal Varisa Deep Sky Program. Detailed information about the Cloud was published in the "Where The Stars End" Astrographic Survey in 5550AD.
Image Repository
Worlds & Sectors (Astrography)
This astrographic feature is primarily found in the following areas:
Charted Space:
World Listing: 1105
The following systems and worlds are associated with this astrographic feature:
References & Contributors / Sources
- Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master Scout Emeritus Adie Alegoric Stewart of the IISS
- Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science